posted Feb 24th, 2006 - DeLand Fire members Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo were recently selected by the readership of the Skydiving Magazine as the "Skydivers of the Year 2005". Editor Mike Truffer has offered this feature for several years, and it was the first time that two skydivers were honored together.

This is no surprise since it is difficult to imagine Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo not doing their skydiving projects together. They have been friends and team mates ever since they began skydiving at Georgia Tech in 1991. The beginnings of their skydiving career can be reviewed at Shannon Pilcher's NSL Profile story.

Bobo and Pilcher are currently members of DeLand Fire and the PD Factory Team. The NSL News has already covered DeLand Fire's team history and progression several times in the past. This time, the NSL News was interested in feedback directly from the factory team's management.

Parachute manufacturer Performance Designs has used several different ways in the past to connect with the skydiving community, including the PD Tour in Europe and later in the USA, the FreeForAll event series and other incentives. The PD Factory Team was formed in 2000. Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo were already members of this very first line-up, which focused mainly on Formation Skydiving.

The current line-up of the PD Factory Team consists of Ian Bobo, Shannon Pilcher, Jay Moledzki, Jonathan Tagle and JC Colclasure on camera. This team focuses mainly on Canopy Piloting, while Ian Bobo and Shannon Pilcher happen to be top competitors in the 4-way event at the same time. Jonathan Taggle is also filming DeLand Fire.

The NSL News asked the new Marketing Director, Rob Wilson, and Sponsorship Marketing Assistant Morten Pederson to explain in an interview how the PD Factory Team, and specifically Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo, are positioned within the company structure.

Rob Wilson has worked with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other professional sports properties in the past and has not made a skydive yet. Morten Pedersen is an experienced skydiver from Denmark and recently jumped with the World Team in Thailand, which set a new world record with a successful 400-way.

The interview took place at the end of January 2006, before Ian Bobo and Shannon Pilcher were selected as the "Skydivers of the Year 2005" and before the World Team began with the record attempts in Thailand.

NSL News: Rob, Morten, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo are currently US 4-way champions and two of the best canopy pilots in the world. 4-way is still the most popular event with the highest participation, while Canopy Piloting seems to be the up and coming event in skydiving. They are kind of the shining stars in the skydiving world at this point. They are both members of your PD Factory Team at the same time, and they have been a part of the PD business operation in many different ways for several years. Can you define the positions that they currently have within PD's company structure?

Rob Wilson: With their achievements and their abilities they are very real assets to PD and we're thankful that we have this relationship with them. We want to strengthen that relationship moving forward, and help them achieve some of the things they are after. We believe that will benefit both skydiving and PD. The PD Factory Team is really an integral part of the marketing program - the team members are a part of the PD family. We want to do more with them in the upcoming two years. We want them to pursue some of the things they have been dreaming about - to go out and actually do it.

NSL News: Ian is currently World Cup champion in Canopy Piloting, both are US 4-way champions with DeLand Fire. We know that they want to become 4-way world champions. What kind of other dreams could be there?

Rob Wilson: They'll continue to compete, but they will do a lot more expeditions and adventure stuff. You'll see a lot of the PD Factory Team in some unusual places around the world over the coming months.

NSL News: How does PD see them as a part of the company and the PD Factory Team? They have been longer with the company than many employees and the actual marketing staff. Which position do they currently have in the company structure?

Rob Wilson: Ian and Shannon and the whole factory team are like a family. They are part of the team, but we also see them as individuals - as very serious competitors. Our role is to provide them what they need to win. We buy into the idea of what they want to accomplish - its a shared goal. First, they want to be champions. Second, they are keen to push the envelope - to see what they are capable of doing in the non-competitive sides of sky diving. They bring a lot of pride and desire into what they do, besides the skills. That fits very well with our company strategy- it makes for a good marriage.

NSL News: How well known are Ian and Shannon and the factory team within the company? Is there a real incentive for the people who work in the production line? Do they help motivate the workers to make the best product?

Rob Wilson: Yes, they do. When the factory team comes here to visit, the people on the company floor making the canopies look up to these guys with a lot of respect. There's an interesting bond between the people on the floor who do the sewing and cutting and producing the canopies and the guys who fly them. For example, we're making new canopies for the team because of some new corporate identification we are doing. The day we finish those canopies they'll be presented to the team, and everybody will get a team shirt with a message about making canopies that make the dream of flight a reality - and PD employees will have the chance to socialize with the team. So it's a strong connection. Our production people know that we are making the best parachutes in the world, but they also understand that we make parachutes for the best skydivers in the world. That's all part of the family idea.

NSL News: That is the internal PD family...

Rob Wilson: ...yes, there are different aspects of family. There is the internal PD family, but the team members are also a part of the skydiving community, the other family. We see the PD Factory Team as our entry into the community of the skydiving world. They also set the standard as world class athletes - and they also serve as extra eyes and ears with their feedback, so that our products deliver what the skydiving world is looking for.

NSL News: Shannon and Ian were picked as PD representatives a long time ago. Rob, you are new with the company. Was it easy for you to understand why they came to this prime position within the company? Does their personality structure fit well to the company's marketing ideas? You met them, evaluated their skills and positions and approved the factory team members obviously as a part of the marketing strategy. Who are these guys?

Rob Wilson: When I first came here, Morten walked me through the history of the factory team and the team's role in the company. We had a planning meeting with the team. I've been involved in sports marketing for a number of years, with car racing, tennis, and soccer, and I've hung out with some world class athletes. I was pleasantly surprised when I met the factory team members. They are all men of integrity, maturity and are committed to the sport and to PD. They value the relationship with us as much as we appreciate them. So it's been a real treat to work with them, and I'm anticipating a great couple of years coming up. They are not only great athletes but also very smart people. They have a good head for business, and they understand the sport inside-out. It's a well rounded relationship between PD and the PD Factory Team.

NSL News: Morten, you know how difficult it is to get to the top world level in any skydiving event. Being on top of the world in 4-way and Canopy Piloting is almost like winning a NASCAR race and an NBA game within one year. Is that comparable?

Morten Pedersen: I can only agree with that. It's impressive to watch that. As Rob said, they are great people and advocates for us, and it is hard to believe that they can do what they do within one year, at the same time. It would be easier to understand between 4-way and 8-way, or one year this and another year that. Both at the same time is simply impressive. Their minds and skills are on a very high level, so they can switch back and forth between these two events. We are proud of them. And other companies in the industry are also impressed with their accomplishments. Ian's and Shannon's achievements are simply good for the sport in general. They are role models for other skydivers - as is the whole team.

Rob Wilson: Changing disciplines like they do is phenomenal. They do it with a real commitment to the sport, not only to competition or the PD Factory Team. They are amazingly passionate about the sport.

NSL News: What's next then? Accuracy? Freestyle? What are their dreams you mentioned earlier?

Rob Wilson: They expressed to us that they would like to experiment more with expedition-style skydiving - to go to interesting places and fly their canopies in new ways and in new environments.

Morten Pedersen: The goals are more in free spirits, in things they like to do. If parachuting will include a new event in that area one day, more in the artistic way of flying, they will probably be a part of it.

NSL News: There used to be the blade running event in the mountains. Is this the direction they are heading?

Morten Pedersen: Yes, blade running, or ground launching, as it is called these days, is an area they have been exploring. They have the right minds to go further down that road. This field will probably not really have a large following due to the challenging logistics, but we'll help them to do it.

NSL News: Performance Designs would probably use this new field of the factory team more for advertising and visual exposure of the products and the sport?

Rob Wilson: There are a few things happening here. As the team explores what more is out there in skydiving, things beyond competition, more about flying itself, it fits with well with our direction. We applaud their efforts of exploring new dimensions. We think it's terrific. They are saying to the skydiving community: "Hey, there is more, you can do more, there are places you can go that you did not know before." We believe that is good for the sport, and it's good for Performance Designs. Our goal is to share their experiences with the whole skydiving community through more dynamic videos. So you'll see much more video exposure of the PD Factory Team to the skydiving community in the near future.

NSL News: Rob, coming from other professional sports and their marketing departments you know very much about the value of competition in any sport. Competition serves as the salt in the soup, brings attention to the sport, the teams, the athletes. The direction you just explained seems to lead more into an artistic field of skydiving. How much will the competitive part of skydiving be a part of the future of the factory team and its individual members?

Rob Wilson: I agree with the definition of an artistic direction. However, you will not see their participation in the competitive side of the sport any less intense than it has been in the past. They are very much committed to be competitive at the very top level of their chosen events. This sport is made up of many different people and many different interests. That is one of the fascinating things about skydiving. Even though it is a relatively small community there's a wide variety of disciplines in the sport. The competition is good, no doubt about it - it is the salt in the soup, it keeps people plugged in. But there is another large part of the community, we believe, that enjoys the artistic side of simply flying and the experience of what we call "The Dream of Flight". It is more than just the free-falling experience, it is the oneness with flight that lights up a lot of skydivers. The more this experience can be shared with the community, the more skydivers will want to make the same experiences. We see these experiences of the PD Factory Team not as exclusive, we see them as complementary. And that's the kind of video product you can expect to see soon.

Morten Pedersen: We look at the PD Factory Team members really as a team. Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" reflects where the team members are and where they want to go. They have a dream, and we don't want to limit them by demanding that they compete, to win medals - or to do chores that could get in the way. We want to let them fly. They know where they want to go, and we want to go there together with them. It is a big asset for us if they challenge our products, and we can learn what they want to do and what they can do or not. If anybody can challenge our line-up of products - it is them, nobody else.

Rob Wilson: They are the face of possibility in skydiving.

NSL News: You represent the marketing department of Performance Designs. Each marketing department usually has a strategy, which might not be flexible enough to accommodate such an artistic direction. Are there no traditional commitments to chores of sponsored athletes, which could get in the way? Do you have to compromise a traditional marketing strategy and the company policies to give them enough freedom for their endeavours?

Rob Wilson: We believe that the PD Factory Team's goals of pushing the envelope and exploring the sport is very much in line with what we want to accomplish as a company. For the next two years, we don't see any conflict between what their dreams are and what we want them to do. In fact, in our last meeting there was a consensus that they will go out and do what they want to do, and we will help them to do it. That's our relationship - we are in synch. We're not asking them to give up anything to be representatives of Performance Designs. They are not asking us to do anything that is contrary to company policy or contrary to what we are aiming to accomplish as a company. It is a very natural fit.

NSL News: Let's check on the time commitment for a minute. Training and competing in two events takes a lot of time already. In addition, there are the dream projects and probably some other commitments for the company. How is it possible for Ian and Shannon to do all of that?

Rob Wilson: I've always been impressed with world class athletes, they are smart people. Our factory team members are of that caliber, and they understand business, as well. The PD Factory Team mapped out a program and a business plan with a schedule for 2006 when we met earlier. It was very well done, and the only comment we had was that we asked them to make it a 2-year plan instead. They've shown leadership and good management skills, so we trust them that they can follow through. In a sense, they are in charge of their own destiny, and their business plan showed us that they can accomplish all the defined goals, including their competitive agenda. It will stretch them and that is what motivates world class athletes. We want them to be champions. However, things can change, and obstacles can get in the way, we know that - but we do not see any conflicts on their agenda.

NSL News: How many members does the PD Factory Team currently have?

Rob Wilson: Four competitors and one camera flyer: Shannon, Ian, Jay Moledzki, Jonathan Taggle, and JC on camera. The Team selected JC as the dedicated camera flyer to meet the growing video demands of the team. Only Shannnon and Ian are doing both events, Canopy Piloting and 4-way.

NSL News: Rob, it must be a very interesting change coming from the traditional sports business marketing into skydiving. The conservative corporate business world does not really see skydiving as a serious business opportunity yet, due to the questionable risk factors and other issues. How do you cope with the daily threat of injury or these kind of hurdles? Has the direct involvement changed your understanding of this sport?

Rob Wilson: Well, I had to listen very carefully to the other people in the marketing department and across PD and try to learn and understand as much as possible about skydiving. I did listen well, and I trusted what I was told. Otherwise I would have gone a little crazy knowing what these guys are doing up there. There are so many factors involved that can interfere - the unexpected, the random event - it's a sport unlike any other. I keep telling myself: hey, you know what, these guys know what they are doing, they are professionals. They are like stuntmen, they would not do something without planning it well and knowing that they can manage it. And for now, that will have to do.

NSL News: Thank you very much for the interview.